Speechless

***Warning-ish now that this is a long review because I apparently loved this book and have a lot of reasons - condensing didn't work***


Can you keep a secret?

Everyone at Grand Lake High knows not to ask Chelsea King that question. Chelsea King can't, and never has been able to, keep a secret. All of that's about to change, though.

The last secret that she told not only helped turn her into an outcast, it nearly got someone killed.

Chelsea needs to keep her mouth shut for once. She's taking a vow of silence because no one wants to hear what she has to say anyway and she needs to keep from hurting anyone else. Through it she may learn who her real friends - even if they're someone new - are and maybe even a little about herself.

If staying show more silent when she knew a juicy secret seemed impossible, Chelsea will now have to see if she can keep her vow when she feels the need to speak up for much different reasons.


Speechless, from the author of Saving June, has an incredibly enticing premise, even better there is then a novel that not only fulfills the promise created by that premise but then goes above and beyond it.

Chelsea King is not, immediately, a very likable character, she isn't someone you can see being friends with, either. She admits right from the first page that she's been sharing everyone's secrets since kindergarten. When we meet Chelsea in the present, she's friends with the her grade's Queen Bee Kristen (even if it's not an equal friendship) and getting very drunk at a party at her house.

Chelsea not being a clear-cut good character not only makes the story work, it makes it work incredibly well. Her growth from page one of Speechless all the way until the last word, makes this book one amazing page turner. it also makes it powerful, emotional and one you really can't miss.

The vow of silence that Chelsea takes, isn't immediately to understand how she's been acting better, to see how she's been making others feel. That's all too altruistic for how the beginning of her vow seems. Yes, she feels bad for what happened, but mixed in with the guilt is some selfishness - that no one cares anyway.

Hannah Harrington does an incredible job portraying Chelsea's feelings even without allowing her to speak. Yes, she does write some but that still allows her fewer words than speaking would. Her progression isn't immediate - she still isn't completely likable for a while - but it's better that way. It feels realistic. Chelsea's characterization is pretty near perfect. We see, through, little things how, in her friendship with Kristen, Chelsea had allowed herself to be subverted.
"[Kristen] got all pissed when I wrote about frosted lipstick being a fashion, "Don't," since she loves it, and then told me someone wears gold shimmery eye shadow isn't one to talk. I still don't understand what's wrong with gold eye shadow, but I threw it out anyway." pg 82
I may have been one of the few not to have a crush on Jake in Saving June (nothing wrong, I just didn't), but I'm a little bit in love with - and have a crush on - almost every non-jerky boy in Speechless. So, it's obvious that Hannah Harrington knows how to write her male characters. And a wide range of them as well. They were well written, had distinct personalities, interacted well together as well as with the other characters and the more central male characters' progressed nicely over the book.

The other, main, female character was to the book just what her character was for Chelsea. She was bright and bubbly and felt like life and fresh air. The book wasn't troubled, but at times the characters and what they were experiencing was and she felt like she kept them . . . up.

Speechless is not at all a preachy book. It's not a PSA. It's not in your face and it doesn't beat you over the head with a message - but it absolutely has one. That it uses a main character, Chelsea, who starts off shallow, unlikable, drunk, unable to keep secrets and indifferent to how her actions effect others is why it works so well.

As Chelsea begins to see it - through her vow of silence, through her friends --old and new -- so do readers.

(The only thing I could take anything off for was that Chelsea felt older than a sophomore. She seemed more like a junior or senior to me in the beginning.)

Get ready to read this sometime when you can be speechless - both because of its greatness and because you'll connect so well with Chelsea that talking will feel strange.

Rating: 9.5/10

(review copy received from Harlequin through Edelweiss) show less

To be honest, the very first thing I noticed about Speechless was the gorgeous cover. I realize you might find that a little odd. There are no faces, no swirls, no fancy typeface to draw in the reader. However it is exactly the lack of all those accoutrements that caught my eye. Simplistic. Beautiful. A blank slate. Then, the synopsis. Thank you whoever wrote this! Thank you so very much for not giving away the entire plot in a few paragraphs. I promise you, vague or not, this synopsis is perfection. Speechless holds much more than you are expecting.

Chelsea Knot is definitely not a perfect person. What she is, is realistic. A girl who is flawed, selfish, and raw. Harrington starts out the book by showing us a Chelsea that is pretty easy show more to dislike. One who spreads rumors, and hurts people. However as she learns the error of her ways, she grows by leaps and bounds. The Chelsea at the end of Speechless is an entirely different person, and just being there for her journey will make you fall in love. In fact, the entire cast of characters that support Chelsea in her time of need are easy to love. I could go on and on about Asha, Sam, Dex and Lou, but I won't. I'll let you meet them for yourself.

What I loved most about this book is that Chelsea's story is full of hope. It is full of growth, and understanding. Speechless touches on tough topics, and it does it well. Instead of relying on angst to draw the reader in, we get to dive deep in Chelsea's head and learn right along with her. There is a message here, that bridges that gap between all ages that might pick up this book. I think Harrington says it best with: "Hate is... it's too easy," he says. "Love. Love takes courage."

Despite it taking some time for me to feel the writing style of the book, I soon became immersed. In fact, a sigh escaped my lips when I reached the last page. A sigh of contentment at how perfectly this book is paced, and executed. Even the romance in this book is spot on, and builds slowly. Gorgeous. Speechless has just further cemented my opinion that Hannah Harrington is a master of her craft. show less

I haven’t often had time to read a full book in one day the past couple of years. I don’t really have time right now either. That said, I absolutely totally and completely could NOT put this book down for the life of me and so I made time to devour it within one day. (Hello, 3am.)

This book was utterly adorable – it brought tears to my eyes at points, and made me giggle at other points. I fell in love with all of the main characters, and cheered them on whenever something awesome happened to them.

The characters were all so well developed, and all seemed to grow in this book. Especially Chelsea, who started out as a spoiled popular girl who cared only about being at the hot parties, but ended up being someone who actually cared show more about her friends and about how her actions affect other people. Even those who ended up being the worst people in the book (Chelsea’s friends at the beginning of the book) seemed to grow and change throughout everything that was happening all along… though, whether that’s due to them actually growing, or due to how Chelsea’s view of them changes as she matures, I’m unsure. Probably a little bit of both.

While her actions at the beginning of the book really made me want to give Chelsea a little shake – outing a boy at school, which results in a few drunk boys beating this guy until he gets put into a coma – by the end of the book, she’s starting to make amends with those she has hurt, and has learned to forgive herself for causing this all to happen. A lot of the book dealt with Chelsea’s pain at what happened to this other boy, but thankfully not in the expected teen angst sort of way. I expected a lot of angst in this book, and am extremely relieved that it wasn’t present. Urgh, I do not enjoy the angst anymore!

The Bottom Line
So yes, this book was completely charming, and I absolutely adored it. Would recommend to fans of contemporary YA. show less

Chelsea Knot has clawed and climbed and gossiped her way up to the top of her school’s social chain. But her reign as the queen bee’s best friend takes a shocking, dizzying fall when Chelsea’s post-party decision has the entire school jumping at the chance to alienate her.

Well, not quite the entire school. Despite her self-imposed vow of silence, Chelsea befriends Asha and several other classmates she’s never spoken to before, who all work at the diner in town. And one of her new friends, Sam, is utterly too cute and sweet. But has Chelsea finally learned her lesson this time about knowing when and when not to speak, and what she’s going to speak up for?

Hannah Harrington’s debut novel, Saving June, was my delightful surprise show more of 2011, so I had high expectations for her sophomore novel, SPEECHLESS. And while I didn’t like SPEECHLESS as much as I did Saving June, it was still an uplifting and quick YA contemporary read.

SPEECHLESS’ strength lies in its treatment of its protagonist, Chelsea. There is no doubt that Chelsea is a mean girl at the beginning of the book, so caught up in the dangerous thriller of being the first to find and spread gossip, and yet we readers undoubtedly see the potential she has in her for good. And yeah, okay, this is kind of the way that protagonists have to be—they have to arouse our empathy in order for us to want to invest in their journey—but Chelsea is, really, likable. She has a very relatable reaction to her changing social position at her high school, but she has an inner strength that we can admire: this is not a girl who will dissolve into a spineless, quivering, tearful mess in the face of extreme challenges.

That being said, the predictability of the rest of the story made this only a mediocre read for me. SPEECHLESS follows a very basic YA contemporary story format, complete with a budding romance that readers can call from the love interest’s first appearance on the page. While Chelsea’s situation is no doubt cringe-inducing—she’s forced to suffer at the hands of some truly heartless school bullies—it’s all written about in a very straightforward manner, so that you can anticipate everything that’s about to happen. While I don’t always require oodles of surprises and utter originality in my reads, the elements of this book just all felt very…safe to me, and thus ultimately forgettable.

SPEECHLESS’ reformed protagonist, golden-hearted supporting characters, and predictably sweet romance are nothing new in this genre, but sometimes that’s the kind of read you seek. If so, you can’t go wrong with Hannah Harrington’s well-intentioned books. show less

In Speechless, a contemporary young adult novel, author Hannah Harrington explores the consequences for sixteen year old Chelsea Knot when she thoughtlessly reveals a secret that leads to the vicious beating of a fellow classmate. Sharing idle gossip, rumour and innuendo once ensured her status as a member of her high school's most exclusive clique but identifying the boys responsible for the assault makes Chelsea a pariah. Guilt stricken, Chelsea takes a vow of silence, reasoning that it's best for everyone if she doesn't talk at all.

The strength of Speechless lies with it's protagonist, Chelsea, and her development from a self centered, shallow, mean girl into a mature, caring individual. The first person point of view allows the show more reader to connect to what Chelsea is thinking and feeling as she navigates her new social reality while her vow of silence ensures the author is able to keep the focus on Chelsea's internal journey. Chelsea isn't aware of how much of her identity she had compromised in order to remain Kristen's best friend until she is exiled from the group. She wore whatever Kristen approved off, behaved the way the Kristen expected and focused on catering to the needs of her 'best friend' almost to the exclusion of everything else. In the wake of the attack on Noah, freed from the confines of the clique's expectations, Chelsea begins to discover who she is, and who she wants to be.

I particularly liked that the consequences for Chelsea were realistic. Exiled from the popular group she becomes a target of their bullying and the rest of the school population has little sympathy for the former 'mean girl'. That the consequences seep into her father's life is perhaps a little bit of a stretch but then given the behaviour of their children it is hardly any surprise the parents are no better.

Chelsea's journey is supported by a blossoming friendship with Ash and Sam. I admire both for their willingness to reach out to, and forgive Chelsea, though as friends of Noah they would have been within their rights to ignore her. Kristen and her friends are fairly typical representations of the power clique familiar from high school, privileged, petty and self involved. I did like that moment when Chelsea quietly confronts Kristen with the truth that the boys are responsible for their fates.

Speechless explores the issues of friendship, bullying, personal responsibility and self acceptance in a manner that is sure to appeal to teens. It is an entertaining read but with a serious message at its core and will hopefully get teens thinking. show less

Some readers might understandably be tempted to bow out of this one fairly early on as Chelsea’s words and actions are far from likeable, she’s offensive at times and her lack of thought and concern for others inadvertently sets in motion terrible consequences for someone else.

Even when (still early on) Chelsea does the right thing, and then she decides to take a vow of silence, she’s still self-involved to an extent, not suddenly all altruistic, there’s still a lot of growing left for her to do over the course of the novel which the author navigates pretty successfully, the changes in Chelsea come about at a gradual enough pace to be mostly believable.

I did feel like a couple characters went easier on Chelsea sooner than maybe show more was realistic and the little bit of romance with one of them didn’t feel necessary, but I was glad for the friendships that developed, I especially loved Asha and wish she had a story all her own.

I thought Chelsea’s parents might have factored in more here, and maybe a counselor (or even the art teacher), too, given that a vow of silence from a student is kind of extreme so you’d expect more attempts at intervention or at least attempts to understand why. More than that though, it seemed like Noah, the person most adversely affected by Chelsea (and even more affected by others), should have played a larger role here. Still, this was an engaging read that could appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen, Harrington captures a similar tone, particularly in the diner scenes. show less

Speechless is my first book by Hannah Harrington, but it definitely won’t be my last. After breezing through this story of a girl whose penchant for divulging secrets almost gets someone killed I’ve decided Harrington is on my must-read list. While not without its faults, Speechless is one of my favorite books this year and definitely one I’ll be reading again and again (I’ve already read it twice this month!).

When Chelsea Knot exposes one secret too many, two teenagers end up under arrest while a third is in a hospital fighting for his life. Devastated by what has happened, she takes a vow of silence to avoid any further tragedies, but soon finds herself on the receiving end of a concentrated attack of bullying and harassment show more from her former friends who blame her for the arrests. When Chelsea is taken under the wing of a new friend, freshman Asha, she begins to question who she really is – and what is worth fighting for.

In all the books I’ve read this year, I think Chelsea is probably the character who experiences the most growth. She questions everything she has done – from revealing the secret to taking the story to the police – and has many moments of doubt and uncertainty. Yet she keeps moving forward, stubborn and determined to prove that she can be a better person than she was in the past. Along the way she finds out the type of person she doesn’t want to be and makes great strides in becoming who she wants to be. I absolutely loved Chelsea’s character development and the opportunities it opened up for her with new friends and a new romance.

All the secondary characters are well-developed and interesting. It intrigued me that it was the friends of the boy who is almost killed who end up taking Chelsea in, supporting her against the bullying in school and recognizing how she is trying to change. Asha, especially, is a great character with her big heart, math smarts, and love of knitting. She is joined in greatness by the owners of Rosie’s Diner, Dex and his girlfriend Lou, who give Chelsea a place to feel safe outside of her home. Even the bullies are developed, including Chelsea’s former best friend Kristen (a gorgeous mean girl) and Derek and Lowell (two basketball players). All three of them do everything they can to make Chelsea miserable, and I was a little nervous about how far they would go.

And then there is Sam – best friends with the boy who has been hospitalized, friend to Asha, and Chelsea’s new art project partner. He listens to NPR, reads actual books (!?!), and knows how to make a mean tuna melt. He is also protective about those he cares about, such as Asha – he emphasizes to Chelsea what a good person she is and how he doesn’t want her hurt if Chelsea isn’t serious about being her friend. I really liked this about him; that he isn't immediately drawn to Chelsea and that their relationship builds gradually as they are thrown together with Asha at Rosie’s Diner and through art class. It was very cute, too, how Chelsea recognized the differences between them and how concerned she was that they didn’t have enough in common to have a long-term relationship.

And now for those faults. The biggest problem I had with Speechless was actually a logistical problem regarding high school. When Chelsea decides to take her vow of silence and shows up with a note for her teachers advising them of the vow, my first thought was, “How is she going to get through a language class?” Chelsea is a sophomore in high school, and every high school I know requires a language class; it’s even mentioned that she switched from French to Spanish at one point so she could take the class with Kristen. Yet, now, she is apparently not studying any languages since it is never mentioned again.

I was also bothered by the fact that she didn’t want to tell her parents the reason behind her silence and get them on board so they could help her navigate the pitfalls of school. Having parental support – or at least attempting to get it – seems like a logical move. Lastly, it really felt like Chelsea and all the teenagers involved should be juniors or seniors instead of sophomores; everyone came across as older than the 15- to 16-year-olds they would be as sophomores. While all of these points nagged at me a little, none of them was enough to throw me out of the story; I was too caught up in the characters and plot to put it down.

Speechless is a fascinating story of a young girl whose inability to keep a secret leads to tragedy and the attempt she makes to turn her life around as a result. Chelsea’s vow of silence uncovers a new path, with supportive friends and a romance with one of the last boys she ever expected. Even with its faults, Hannah Harrington has crafted a story that is engaging, thought-provoking, and addictive with a lead character who shows tremendous growth. Speechless is a keeper. show less